From writer/director Quentin Dupieux (Rubber), the low-budget comedy Wrong follows Dolph Springer (Jack Plotnick) after he wakes up one morning to find that he has lost his dog, Paul.  Desperate to reunite with his best friend and to set things right, Dolph embarks on an awkwardly funny journey that is often bizarre and absurd, but always oddly entertaining.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, filmmaker Quentin Dupieux talked about what led him to become a filmmaker, finding the links between random elements, how his main goal as a writer is to entertain himself, why he wanted to address themes of love through the relationship between a man and his dog, maintaining the perfect balance between comedy and anxiety, and why he likes to be his own cinematographer.  He also talked about when the idea for Wrong Cops (about a group of bad cops looking to dispose of a body that one of them accidentally shot) evolved, his French-language film Réalité, the super silly film he is working on writing next, and how surprised and happy he is about the reaction he got to Rubber.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

[This is a re-post of my review from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.  Wrong opens today in limited release.]

In 2010, Quentin Dupieux‘s Rubber hit the screen to critical acclaim. The acclaim was mostly along the lines of “The best killer tire movie you’ll ever see.” Despite its odd-ball premise and protagonist, Rubber did seem to have cohesive subtext about criticizing the audience and purposely messing with their expectations. By contrast, Dupieux’s new movie, Wrong, is all killer tire and hardly anything to say. That’s doesn’t make it a bad flick. Strangeness along the lines of a killer tire can still be pretty funny, and Wrong‘s off-kilter reality offers plenty of laughs. It’s just too silly and devoted to strangeness to make any exploration of a convoluted subtext worth considering.

Fans of Quentin Dupieux’s film Rubber look to be in for another dose of weirdness if this new trailer and poster for his next film Wrong are any indication.  While Rubber dealt with a homicidal tire with telekinetic powers, Wrong tones it down just a bit and focuses on Dolph (Jack Plotnick), a man who wakes up one morning (at 7:60) and realizes that Paul, his dog/soul-mate, has gone missing.  What follows is sure to be a strange adventure as Dolph encounters some rather odd individuals on his quest to find Paul.  Also starring Eric Judor, Alexis Dziena, Steve Little and William Fichtner, Wrong will be available on VOD starting February 1st, with a theatrical release on March 29th.  You can also check out the previously released teaser trailer and Matt Goldberg’s review of the film here.  Hit the jump to watch the trailer and see the poster. 

Another busy day in Poster World, folks:  at some point today, Mondo will drop three more of its Fantastic Fest posters on a not-so-unsuspecting populace.  Kilian Eng’s Alexander Jodorowsky’s Dune and the one-two punch of Jay Shaw’s Beyond The Black Rainbow and Wrong will hit the Mondo website in a matter of…what, minutes?  Hours?  There’s no telling—you’ll have to wait for the Tweet to find out—but while we’re waiting on the drop to occur, why don’t we take a closer look at what’s dropping today?  It’s all after the jump, my fellow poster-nerds.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American and Eastern European rights to director Ramin Bahrani’s At Any Price.  Dennis Quaid stars as an ambitious farmer who is a father to a rebellious son (Zac Efron) with aspirations of race car driving.  An investigation into the family business brings the pair together in order to preserve their livlihood.

In other acquisition news, Drafthouse Films has picked up North American rights to Wrong, from Quentin Dupieux (Rubber). The picture centers on Dolph Springer (Jack Plotnick), a man embarking on a metaphysical journey to find his lost dog, while encountering strange characters along the way.  Hit the jump for more on both projects.

I’m crossing my fingers I’ll be able to attend Fantastic Fest this year, because it’s one of the most exciting film festivals around.  We previously reported that this year’s opening night flick would be the stop-motion animated adaptation of Frankenweenie, and now the full line-up is starting to be announced.  Fantastic Fest usually announces its line-up in waves, and wave one has already got some big highlights for genre fans.  There’s the hard R-rated Dredd, Quentin Dupieux‘s hilariously bizarre Wrong, and the excellent documentary Room 237, which is about The Shining.  Oh, and they’ll also be showing The Shining (a movie that doesn’t need a prequel).  Room 237 and The Shining would be a kick-ass double-feature, and I hope those movies will be played together (although I’m not sure which one I would choose to go first; probably Room 237 since it would cause the audience to start combing through the screening of The Shining).

Hit the jump for the first wave of announcements.  Fantastic Fest 2012 runs from September 20 – 27th.

Like I did last year, I had a great time at the Sundance Film Festival.  It’s tough to complain about weather conditions or getting around when you have the privilege to watch and discover new movies all day.  Even better, plenty of Sundance 2012 films turned out to be pretty damn good.  For me, there weren’t any quite as excellent as Martha Marcy May Marlene or Project Nim from last year, but those movies set an incredibly high bar.  Many of my peers felt they saw something truly special with Beasts of the Southern Wild and I can understand the love even if it didn’t hit me with as much emotional impact.  Most of my peers also loved Liberal Arts and Sleepwalk With Me, and I’m sorry I missed those.  But all in all, the festival ran as smoothly as last year, the volunteers (especially those in the press tent) were awesome, and it’s always a joy to hang out with people from other movie websites.

Hit the jump for my festival scorecard where you can see an organized list of my ratings for the movies I saw (although I highly encourage you to read the full review rather than just glance at a letter).  While this is my wrap-up, Steve will be posting his Sundance interviews throughout the week so keep an eye out for those.

In 2010, Quentin Dupieux‘s Rubber hit screen to critical acclaim.  The acclaim was mostly along the lines of “The best killer tire movie you’ll ever see.”  Despite its odd-ball premise and protagonist, Rubber did seem to have cohesive subtext about criticizing the audience and purposely messing with their expectations.  By contrast, Dupieux’s new movie, Wrong, is all killer tire and hardly anything to say.  That’s doesn’t make it a bad flick.  Strangeness along the lines of a killer tire can still be pretty funny, and Wrong‘s off-kilter reality offers plenty of laughs.  It’s just too silly and devoted to strangeness to make any an exploration of a convoluted subtext worth considering.

Writer/director Quentin Dupeiux made some noise on the 2010 festival circuit when he unleashed Rubber, alternately wowing and perplexing the varied audiences of Cannes, Toronto, and Fantastic Fest.  The hyper-meta movie about a tire who kills people is right in my wheelhouse of movies that talk incessantly about their own structure; ultimately, it never quite connected, but marked Dupeiux as a filmmaker to watch.

The next Dupeiux film to watch for is Wrong, which will premiere as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition lineup at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.  A teaser trailer has been posted online, and promises that Wrong—led by Jack Plotnick, Eric Judor, Alexis Dziena, Steve Little, and William Fichtner—will strive to out-strange Rubber.  Watch for yourself after the jump.

I had a blast at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and I can’t wait to go again next year.  Today, Sundance announced their In-Competition line-ups for 2012 and already I’m trying to plan out how I’m going to see all of them (which is impossible, but it’s nice to dream).  The U.S. Dramatic Competition features For Ellen, Nobody Walks, Safety Not Guaranteed, Smashed, and more.  There are also some interesting-sounding films in the U.S. Documentary Competition including Finding North, The Invisible War, and The Other Dream Team.

Hit the jump to check out the full press release, which includes the in-competition line-ups for U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, and World Cinema Documentary Competition.  The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19 – 29th.